TOP STORIES

Brazil's Government Racing to Convince Skittish Markets Meat is Safe

LAPA, Brazil -- Brazil's government raced Wednesday to protect a key industry and convince skittish local and global markets that meatpackers accused of paying bribes to meat inspectors in a corruption scandal did so to get their products out faster, not to sell rancid meat here and abroad.

Bribes to sanitary inspectors and other violations happened in 21 plants from several companies, federal police have alleged, adding that corrupted officials issued false sanitation documents or permitted the sale of rotten meat, some of which may have gone to Brazil's lucrative foreign markets. But in an attempt to limit the damage rippling through the industry, officials in President Michel Temer's government are now sharply criticizing the police handling of the case and saying that the corrupt company employees who made payoffs did so to expedite permits. They claim the companies that have been accused of wrongdoing didn't sell tainted meat.

USDA in Spotlight Over Brazil Meat Imports -- Market Talk

13:08 ET - US lawmakers are pressing the US Department of Agriculture over whether meat imports from Brazil have put American consumers at risk. In light of a tainted-meat scandal involving major Brazilian exporters, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D, MI) urged the USDA's food-safety service to reveal whether it has identified any adulterated meat from Brazil and clarify its import protocol from the country. USDA authorized the import of fresh beef from Brazil in October 2016. "I am concerned about the ongoing safety of food products entering this country from Brazil and potentially putting American citizens at risk," Sen. Stabenow said. China, the EU, South Korea and others have recently tightened or restricted Brazilian imports as a result of the scandal, and market participants are asking whether the US will follow suit. (benjamin.parkin@wsj.com; @b_parkyn)

 
   STORIES OF INTEREST

Bird-Flu Outbreak Brings Pain for Poultry Producers in Asia -- Update

Avian influenza is spreading across Asia in what may be the worst outbreak in seven years, as the human death toll rises and chickens are culled in Japan, South Korea and China in an effort to contain the disease.

In January and February, 140 people in China died from bird flu, according to the latest data from the country's National Health and Family Planning Commission, the highest number since 2010, when 147 died.

Starbucks Plans Fresh Food Lunch Menu in Chicago -- Market Talk

13:13 ET - Starbucks (SBUX) is venturing into fresh food, with plans to launch a new lunch menu called "Mercato" in more than 100 stores in Chicago next month. The menu will consist of salads and sandwiches prepared offsite and delivered to Starbucks stores for same-day consumption. It's part of the chain's effort to boost sales at lunch and could be rolled out elsewhere in the US later. SBUX plans to double its food business by 2021. (julie.jargon@wsj.com)

 
   FUTURES MARKETS

Cattle Prices Hit 14-Month High as Frozen Stocks Fall

CHICAGO--Cattle futures rose to 14-month highs as tight beef supplies stoked an unexpectedly strong rally.

April live cattle futures rose more than 2% on Wednesday to $1.22450 a pound at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the highest close since Jan. 6, 2016, after a government report showed tighter beef stocks than expected.

Frozen beef stocks fell unexpectedly in February from a year earlier, according to the USDA cold storage report. The USDA said there were 502.4 million pounds of beef in commercial freezers at the end of the month, down 1% from February 2016. Analysts had expected stocks to increase.

Buying on the futures market was spurred by high prices at an online cattle auction. Sales at the Fed Cattle Exchange auction on Wednesday morning averaged $1.33 a pound, with over 2,000 cattle sold in a range of $1.28 to $1.37 a pound. That beat expectations that prices would remain steady, at around $1.28, from last week.

 
   CASH MARKETS 
 
Zumbrota, Minn Hog Steady At $42.00 - Mar 22

Barrow and gilt prices at the Zumbrota, Minn., livestock market today are steady at $42.00 per hundredweight.

Sow prices are $2.00 higher. Sows weighing under 450 pounds are $29.00-$31.00, 400-450 pounds are at $29.00-$31.00, 450-500 pounds are $29.00-$31.00 and those over 500 pounds are $33.00-$35.00.

The day's total run is estimated at 300 head.

Prices are provided by the Central Livestock Association.

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Mar 22 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
                                      * 
Mar 22       +$20.98              +$36.21 
Mar 21       +$23.69              +$40.15 
Mar 20       +$24.51              +$40.13 
 
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production. 
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of production of the animals. 
 
Beef-O-Meter 
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite 
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices. 
 
                                 Beef 
          For Today             Choice   97.0 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select   97.8 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday fell $1.93 per hundred pounds, to $223.00, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose 39 cents per hundred pounds, to $215.80. The total load count was 138. Wholesale pork prices fell $1.83, to $78.58 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 22, 2017 17:48 ET (21:48 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.